When by is the second element in a phrasal verb, eg go by, stand by, look up the verb. When it is part of a set combination, eg by chance, by degrees, by half, look up the other word.

preposition

1(close to)al lado de;junto a

the house by the churchla casa que está al lado de or junto a la iglesia;come and sit by meven y siéntate a mi lado or junto a mí;I've got it by melo tengo a mi lado;"where's the bank?" — "it's by the post office"—¿dónde está el banco? —está al lado de or junto a la oficina de correos

sitting by the fire

the house by the riverla casa que hay junto al río;a holiday by the seaunas vacaciones en la costa

2(via)por

he came in by the back door/by the windowentró por la puerta de atrás/por la ventana;which route did you come by?¿por dónde or por qué camino or por qué ruta viniste?;I went by Doverfui por Dover

by dayde día;by nightde noche;by day he's a bank clerk and by night he's a security guardde día es un empleado de banco y de noche es guarda de seguridad;a postcard of London by nightuna postal nocturna de Londres

5(in expressions of time)(not later than)para

we must be there by four o'clocktenemos que estar allí para las cuatro;can you finish it by tomorrow?¿puedes terminarlo para mañana?;I'll be back by midnightestaré de vuelta antes de or para la medianoche;applications must be submitted by 21 Aprillas solicitudes deben presentarse antes del 21 de abril

by the time I got there it was too latecuando llegué ya era demasiado tarde

it'll be ready by the time you get backestará listo para cuando regreses

to reduce sth by a thirdreducir algo en una tercera parte;to rent a house by the monthalquilar una casa por meses;letters were arriving by the sackloadlas cartas llegaban a montones;it seems to be getting bigger by the minute/dayparece que va creciendo minuto a minuto/día a día

to sell sth by the dozenvender algo por docenas

we get paid by the hournos pagan por horas

we sell by the kilovendemos por kilos

we charge by the kilometrecobramos por kilómetro

little by littlepoco a poco

one by oneuno tras otro;uno a uno

two by twode dos en dos

7(indicating agent, cause)por

the thieves were caught by the policelos ladrones fueron capturados por la policía;la policía capturó a los ladrones;surrounded by enemiesrodeado de enemigos;a painting by Picassoun cuadro de Picasso;who's that song by?¿de quién es esa canción?;he had a daughter by his first wifetuvo una hija con su primera mujer

8(indicating transport, method etc)

by air[+travel]en avión;[+send]por avión;por vía aérea

by bus/caren autobús/coche

to pay by chequepagar con cheque

made by handhecho a mano

by landpor tierra

by the light of the moon/a candlea la luz de la luna/de una vela

by railortrainen tren

by seapor mar

9(with gerund)

by working harda fuerza de mucho trabajar;trabajando mucho;he ended by saying that ...terminó diciendo que ...

/by leaving early/ he missed the rush/by saving hard/ he managed to buy a small flat

to call sth by its proper namellamar algo por su nombre;it's all right by mepor mí no hay problema or está bien;if that's okay by yousi no tienes inconveniente

that's fine by me

11(measuring difference)

she missed the plane by a few minutesperdió el avión por unos minutos;we beat them to Joe's house by five minutesllegamos a casa de Joe cinco minutos antes que ellos;broader by a metreun metro más ancho

Conjugations

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